Russian Cottage Windows.

Continuing with our fairy tales thematic unit, 4th graders have been studying Russian Fairy tales. We created cottage windows found in many illustrations in Russian Fairy Tales and Stories. One author who inspired our project was Patricia Polacco who illustrates beautiful Russian architecture in many of her books.

I have done this project before several years ago (found here) but this time we added more designs to our windows to really create a beautiful storybook cottage window. Math concepts were the key to this project. Symmetry, Geometric Shapes, Balance.

Students chose 12″ x 18″ colored construction paper for the main color of the house and 9″ x 12″ black construction paper for inside the window. Next they used painted paper scraps for flower pots. We discussed the shapes square and rectangle to make the shape of a flower pot. Finally students painted flowers in the flower pots with tempera paints and small brushes.

Day 2

Trapezoids were the shape used to create the shutters. Fold over the smaller side and glue down. Yes, our shutters actually close! Symmetrical designs were added to the window with white paper.

At the top, a symmetrically designed arch

with cut designs was attached.

We used folded 4″ x 9″ white paper, added cut designs and

used hole punchers to create the small shapes.

The cross pieces of the window were then added.

Day 3

Students added more details if needed then added tissue flowers and painted stems with tempera paint

Painted Paper Art

I have been teaching elementary art for 20 years in Ohio. I love my job and watching my 750 students enjoy the process of creating. I love incorporating children's literature with art lessons, and anything to do with fun, colorful art. I am a mom to two lovable kids. I love to see fun projects and mix it up to create a new project. If you do post about a project please reference back to my blog. It is great getting comments and feedback to pass along to my students. Thanks for checking it out!
Enjoy, Laura